Guardian
by ArtisticLullaby
Summary: The story of Jon and Isabelle as they grew up, Jon raising and protecting his little sister from all the dangers of East Cincinnati and even their mothers. Prequel to You Had Me At Hello, in a way, but it could also stand alone. Rated for language and mentions of substance abuse.
1. Baby

From the moment the baby was brought into his apartment, her mother looking so proud of what she made, Jonathan Good was interested. He wanted to know more about the small baby, like her name and what her smile looked like, but their mothers were going a good job of keeping her away from him for fear that he'd mess up and hurt her. Or at least he assumed. But he got his opportunity when they left to go sniff their white powder, he didn't understand what it was then but he didn't really care, in the other room. He then looked to the baby who was sleeping peacefully in the clunky carrier and slowly moved from the chair he was sitting in and moved to sit in front of her on the floor.

She looked so happy just being asleep in the dirty and used carrier, and for a moment he felt bad for her because she had to be here. But he couldn't just watch her sleep. He really liked to touch things, and she looked really soft with her pale skin and dark hair. So, very slowly, he used only his index finger to stroke her tiny balled up fist and froze when her eyes opened slowly.

Bright blue eyes stared into a matching set of blue and Jonathan instantly found himself fearing the repercussions of making the small baby cry. But instead she let out a small yawn and continued to look at him, watching as he wormed his small finger into her tiny fist and smiled. He knew that he was pushing both his limits and hers, but that's what he did. He liked to test people.

"Jonny! What are you doing!?" Her mother shouted, bringing Jonathan's attention from the little baby and to her mother. He didn't like being called Jonny, it didn't feel right to him. Big boys weren't called Jonny, that was for babies. He was Jonathan the big boy. Not a baby. She was a baby.

"I'm sorry. She didn't cry so I thought it was okay."

"Huh. I guess that's fine. You wanna hold her?"

"I can?"

"Of course you can." She smiled, and Jonathan had to think about the first time he had ever been smiled at by his mother's best friend. "On the couch, I'll hand her to you."

Jonathan quickly scrambled to sit on the couch, excited to be able to hold the baby. He heard her mother quietly hush her as she picked her up and carried her over to where Jonathan sat. He saw her smile down at the bundle before handing her down to him. Once she was properly positioned in his arms her mother left and Jonathan smiled down at the bundle. He was surprised when she smiled back up at him and reached up towards his face, but it was then that he knew.

He was attached to the little baby. And he hadn't even learned her name yet. If only he knew then the great lengths he'd go to just to keep her safe and happy.

He didn't notice their moms come back with a camera until he saw the flash of the disposable camera. Then he looked up from the baby to see them smiling.

"Jonny and Isabelle. Maybe they'll get married." His mom suggested before both started cackling hysterically. He didn't like it when they laughed, it sounded scary to him. Eventually they went back to do more bad things and Jonathan looked down to Isabelle to see that she had fallen asleep in his arms.

It became a trend for six year old Jonathan to care for the infant Isabelle, since their moms were often too high to realize that the baby was crying. He'd quickly learned how to feed her, dress her, and change her diapers so that she wasn't suffering while he was home. He felt bad while he was at school, always wondering if she was being properly taken care of.

When she'd started to sit up on her own and held her own bottles, things were a bit easier since his little arms wouldn't have to do as much maneuvering around her body. But at the same time, things got difficult. After she started sitting, she started crawling and he'd have to figure out unique ways of corralling her so that she didn't get into their mother's drugs or get herself hurt on whatever was on the floor on any given day. But once he figured it out, it was smooth sailing from then on.

He just hoped things would always be this easy.


	2. Rainy Day

An eleven year old Jonathan Good stood in the rain waiting. Not for anything too big, but it was Isabelle's first day of kindergarten and he wanted to make sure she had a good day. He ended up late to school because he had to walk her to school, but it was worth it to him. Her mother didn't care and he didn't trust the whore with his little sister.

Parents stood all around him with their umbrellas and waterproof coats, all noticing the young boy soaked to the bone in rain water but not one of them caring enough to offer him protection beneath their umbrellas. But he didn't care. He had a warmer jacket in his bag, it wasn't much warmer but he was trying to keep it dry for Isabelle to wear on the walk back so she didn't get too wet. He could handle being sick, she couldn't, and he didn't want to hear or see her cry because she wasn't feeling well. He didn't like it when she cried.

The bell finally rang and Jonathan let out a sigh of relief. Isabelle was the first kid out of the door and he kneeled onto the wet concrete to dig through his backpack for the coat he wanted and had it out just before she approached him.

"Put this on, Izzy."

"But this is yours." She stated, tilting her head as she held onto the garment.

"Yeah, I know. Put it on please."

"Why?"

"Because it's raining and I don't want you getting sick."

That was enough for her and he took her small purple backpack from her while she put on the coat. She watched as he slung the bag over his shoulder before zipping it up and pulling the hood over her head. She surveyed the area around them, noticing that the dad of one kid in her class was watching them closely. She didn't like the face he was making because it was a look of sympathy and Jon had told her that they didn't want anybody's sympathy.

"What's wrong, Isabelle?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." She said softly, looking down at her feet. Jon knew that she was upset when she did that, but he really didn't have the time to worry about it.

"Let's get going. It's freezing. "

"Do you want your-?"

"No, you need it." Jon stated, taking her small hand in his and starting to lead her away.

"Hey kid." The parent called, getting Jon's attention. The way Jon instinctively pushing Isabelle to stand behind him wasn't missed by the parent, but Jon didn't exactly care at this point. Isabelle's health and safety was priority. "Take our umbrella. You need it."

"Thanks, but we don't do handouts." Jon declined before pulling Isabelle away. "Come on, Isabelle."

"Seriously, take the umbrella." The man called but Jon only shook his head and started walking faster. He was dead set on not needing anybody's help and he didn't want to take any hand outs. He'd figure out how to steal one before he took one from a stranger and was expected to give it back.

"Jon, my feet hurt." Isabelle whined just after they crossed the first street and Jon sighed before he lifted her onto his hip. "Thank you."

"It's no big deal. How was school?"

"Fun, I guess."

"You guess?"

"It was okay. I missed you." She mumbled, making Jon smile on the inside. He knew that she'd get over it eventually, but knowing that she missed him for the six hours that they were apart really meant a lot to him.

"I missed you, too, Izzy. But you'll get used to being there and when you start making friends, I know you won't miss me as much." He reasoned, shifting her up when she started slipping. "Did you cry at all?"

"No."

"Did you want to?"

"Mhm." She hummed, obviously a bit embarrassed if the way she tried to hide her face was any indication.

"Why didn't you?" Jon asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear her say it. It just felt good to him to know that she was learning things from him.

"Big kids don't cry when people are looking."

"Atta girl."

She kept quiet for the rest of the walk, listening to Jon tell her about his day. He hated half of the kids in his class and they didn't like him either, but that was okay with him. He had a couple friends and he had her and that was what mattered to him. She was tired, but she managed to stay awake and listen to him. She liked listening to Jon.

When the two came home to his apartment there was moaning and screaming coming from the back bedroom. The two had become used to it and, while Jon knew exactly what was going on and told Isabelle that they were "wrestling", they went into the kitchen for Jon to make some kind of lunch for them.

"What are you hungry for?" Jon asked once he had shed his wet jacket and t-shirt, looking to Isabelle as she squirmed out of his jacket.

"I dunno. What can you make?" She answered his question with another question, coming to stand beside him.

"Good question." He muttered before beginning his search through the cabinets for the little food that they had at his apartment. "Uh, I can make macaroni."

"Okay."

"Go get started on your homework. I'll bring it to you when its done."

Isabelle did as she was told, sitting at the small table where Jon had put both of their backpacks. She looked over the instructions and frowned, since she wasn't feeling like doing her homework. She just wanted to be wrapped up in a blanket and watch The Lion King with Jon. But he had homework too and probably had a lot of it. He was in middle school and that stuff sounded hard.

Ten minutes later Jon sat down beside her at the table set the bowls down. She looked at the bowl and played with the plastic fork he had placed in it, and it was then that Jon knew she was bothered.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna do my homework."

"I know you don't, but you have to so you can get super smart and go to college." He reasoned, looking at the packet her teacher had sent home. "Eat, kid. You've gotta be starving."

"Okay."

It wasn't long before the noises in the back room stopped and the door opened. Jon's eyes shifted to the large man exiting the bedroom and instantly recognized him as LaVon, the local drug dealer. He held his breath as the man came closer, fighting the urge to yell at him when he looked at Isabelle for longer than a second. He then took Isabelle's bowl away before leaving, to which Jon made a face before pushing his bowl over to her. She shook her head and pushed it back to him, taking her homework and getting out her pencil.

"Isabelle Marie. Take the bowl."

"That's yours, Jon." She argued, her eyes flicking to where his mom came out of the back room counting money. But he quickly brought her attention back to him.

"We can share. Final answer."

"Alright. My teacher gave us a lot of papers that my mom has to sign, Jon."

"I'll sign them all. Don't worry."

"My mom is gonna come home soon, right?"

"I'm sure she will." He lied, not really knowing whether or not her mother would come home. He just didn't want her to worry about it. "Eat, Izzy."


	3. Volleyball

"Jon, I'm bored." A six year old Isabelle complained for the tenth time in a five minute span. He could understand why, since it was the summer and he just woke her up to get her out of the apartment because he understood what the third of the month meant to their mothers and she didn't need to be around to see or hear that.

"I know, Izzy. I'll find something for us to do." He assured, putting his head down as they walked passed somebody who sold for LaVon. He really didn't want to be forced to push drugs in front of Isabelle, and he was lucky that he wasn't that time. "Let's go watch the volleyball game."

"What's that?"

"It's a sport. I think you'll like it." He actually wasn't sure if she would like it or not. He just needed something to get her off his case while he came up with a plan and admission was free. Hopefully she actually did like it and he could figure out how to get her into a volleyball program that would keep her away from home for a couple hours a day a few times a week and give her a positive outlet. He just couldn't let her sit at home and believe that what their mothers were doing was okay and what she would end up doing.

Hell would freeze over the day he let his little sister whore herself out "to get by" and then blow that money on drugs. If she ever considered using drugs, he swore that he'd kick her ass up to Cleveland and back down to Cincinnati. She had to make a good life for herself and if she couldn't, then he'd use the money he planned on making being a wrestler to keep her on the right path. As far as he was concerned any path was better than the one their moms went down.

Sitting in the high school gym made him feel weird. He was surrounded by parents watching their kids and being supportive, while he was just trying to get his little sister into a sport. He'd go to her games to support her if she decided to play volleyball and he'd gladly cheer the loudest in the gym so she knew, without a doubt, that he was there for her and proud of her.

Near the end of the game, Isabelle had leaned into Jon and he knew that she was tired, but one glance at the back door told him that they needed to go. One of LaVon's lackeys was there and probably looking for him, so he gently pulled Isabelle away and into the family bathroom where they'd be safe for a moment.

"Volleyball looks fun." Isabelle commented as Jon knelt in front of her and he smiled as he adjusted her jacket.

"I'll figure out how to get you into a program. Once we leave this bathroom we're gonna take the long way home and probably have to climb the fire escape to get inside."

"Alright." She didn't want to complain and say that she was too tired, because then Jon would feel bad and she never wanted him to feel bad about anything. So she smiled up at Jon as he stood and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, wordlessly conveying how much she appreciated him for the day they had together.

"Ready to go?"

"Yep."

"Remember; hand in mine, eyes down, and don't look up unless I tell you to."

"I know." She whispered as he opened the door and pulled her away. She didn't understand why Jon was so secretive at times, but at the same time she was sure that she didn't want to know. He didn't want her to worry about the things that he was worried about. "It wasn't her job to worry", he'd say. She was supposed to get an education and stay out of trouble, worrying was his job.

Throughout their walk home, Jon's grip on her hand varied, but she didn't look up until he mumbled that they were at their apartment. It was then that he knelt down in front of her and she climbed onto his back. This was the hardest part for Jon; having to carry her and himself the three stories up the ladder to his apartment. The place was empty, much to his relief, and he set Isabelle down on the couch. She must've fallen asleep on the climb up, and he couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was. She knew how to get on his last nerve and had more questions than he had answers, but that was his little sister and he loved her regardless.

He carried her to his bedroom and tucked her in, not surprised when she clung to his coat. He had no choice but to lay down with her, letting her snuggle close to him. It wasn't anywhere close to bedtime, but he laid there beside her and held her close, gently kissing her head before letting his eyes slide shut. He had a sinking feeling about LaVon and his gang, but Isabelle would be okay in the end.


End file.
